Idea Mining

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. We can look at history and see some truth to this statement. Many very creative and imaginative inventions have come as a result of the pressing need for just such an invention. Since we may not have a truly pressing need which forces us to unleash our creativity on to some problem, we may have to resort to other methods of jump-starting our creativity. One way to do this is to ask yourself some very focused questions that will cause our minds to search for the answers we need.

Focused Questions For Energizing Your Creativity
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Question 1: “What am I trying to do?” When I help my daughter with her math homework I always remind her to read the problem and then step back and explain what kind of answer the question wants. Until you know what it is you are trying to do, it will be near impossible to do it!

Question 2: “How am I going to do it?” There are many ways to get from here to there. Some make a lot of sense and others seem crazy. When we are faced with a problem, we sometimes jump immediately on a method we are comfortable with to solve it; however, this may not be the best method or, worse yet, your familiar method may not even work. Be open to try new and different approaches. This will increase your experience level and ultimately improve your creativity.

Question 3: “What am I assuming?” Whenever we approach any activity, we come to it with a set of assumptions. They may be as simple as thinking the task is so familiar, I don’t even have to think about what I am doing, which is how we go about most of the things we normally do every day. However, sometimes we make assumptions that we may not be able to prove and could even be wrong. Someone once told me that “Errant assumptions lie at the root of every failure”.

Start From Scratch
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I don’t know about you, but some of the best food I have ever had has been from the kitchen of mom or grandma. Something they like to call “from scratch”. One way we can focus some questions on stirring-up our creativity is to start from scratch. Others might call this starting from nothing and some would call it “Zero based thinking.” The idea is to go back in time (no fancy machine required – just use your mind). Then ask yourself if you had known way back then what you know now, would you have made the same choice. If you’re honest with yourself and you have to say “NO”, then you might want to start working on an exit strategy to get our of what you have gotten yourself in as soon as you can. This will then free you up to try something else now that you have gained all that valuable experience.

How Can I Put This To Use Today
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Start by getting serious about exactly what it is you want to do. Record this in some manner spelling it out as if you have already done it.

Now, be sure you are not operating on false assumptions. And since things are always changing, it is a good idea to stay on top of this.

Then, be open to trying ways and methods you have never tried or even thought of as you look for better, faster, and more effective ways to do what you want to do.

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